Calvary Road Baptist Church
“AFTER JUDAS ISCARIOT LEFT THE UPPER ROOM”
John 13.31-35
Imagine that we are in Jerusalem on Thursday, the day before Christ’s crucifixion. It was last Friday that the Lord Jesus Christ and His twelve apostles passed through Jericho with several hundred other religious pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for Passover. But when
“blind Bartimaeus ... heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”[1]
48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
May I remind you that Judas Iscariot was on the scene, beheld the interaction as it unfolded, and saw that miracle? Of course, he had previously seen the Lord Jesus Christ give sight to the blind.[2] He also saw the Savior raise Lazarus from the dead.[3] Indeed, Judas and the Lord and the others spent the next day with Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. It was a Sabbath.
Then, of course, came the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. That was the previous Sunday,[4] four days earlier. Judas also witnessed the subsequent back and forth disputes between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and others. Judas Iscariot was witness to all of that, and so much more. For more than three years, he had seen and heard it all, from the feeding of the multitudes to the Lord walking on water.[5]
But it was that Tuesday evening, two days ago, at Simon the leper’s house, that Judas Iscariot decided he would do it. He always had secretly loved money. And when he criticized Mary for anointing the Lord’s head with expensive ointment, the Lord rebuked him in front of everyone.[6] Of course, Judas had rebuked Mary in front of everyone, but that didn’t matter to Judas.
He didn’t like that — not one bit. Stung by the Lord’s rebuke, even though he was wrong and the Savior was right, he decided to get revenge, to betray the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make money doing it. And he knew how. He would sell Him out to the chief priests, and in deciding to do that, he yielded himself to Satan’s domination and control of his mind and heart.[7] Again, that was Tuesday, two nights ago.
What happened yesterday? What took place on Wednesday? We have no idea. The Word of God is completely silent about what transpired on the day before. But that was yesterday. Today is our concern.
Earlier today, the Lord Jesus Christ exercised His right of requisition once more. He first exercised His right of requisition as the King of the Jews by directing His men to take the donkey colt to ride into Jerusalem.[8] That was on Sunday. Earlier today He exercised His right of requisition a second time when He dispatched His men to secure the use of a guest-chamber in which to celebrate Passover. It came to be known as the Upper Room.[9]
Hours passed, preparations were made to clean the room, to purchase the food, and to prepare the food. Then the thirteen men gathered to eat the Passover. You will remember that the Savior shocked His gathered men by washing their feet.[10] He then dismayed His gathered men by informing them of His betrayal.[11]
To this point, they are all there. The Lord Jesus Christ and His twelve apostles. His mother wasn’t there. His siblings weren’t there. His close friends who lived in the area (Mary, Martha, and Lazarus) weren’t there. That is a line of inquiry worth pursuing at another time. At present, it was the Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles, with one of them conspiring to betray Him.
My interest is in what happened immediately after the son of perdition left, what happened after Judas Iscariot left, what happened after the betrayer left. You will remember that the Lord gave Judas the sop (the best morsel), at which point Satan then entered into him, and he immediately left the Upper Room to finalize the infamous conspiracy to betray. Those details are found in John 13.26-30.
We could dwell on that. We could focus on that. We could expend time and energy on one evil man’s intentions. But I am persuaded there is greater benefit in considering what the Lord Jesus Christ said to the remaining eleven men after Judas Iscariot had departed. To do that, we turn to John 13.31-35:
31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Does it strike you as interesting that the Lord Jesus Christ did not call a strategy session to deal with the crisis at hand, to tell His men, “In response to the impending betrayal of Judas Iscariot, here is what I want you to do for damage control”? Most organizations losing a keyboard member would call a meeting to analyze, to strategize, and make sure everyone is on the same page to minimize losses and prevent the hemorrhaging of new disciples. I am not ruling out the necessity of congregations sometimes doing that, but that is not exactly what the Lord did on this occasion, perhaps because of the even greater trauma they would be faced with the next day when He would be crucified.
There are two things we can take note of about the Lord Jesus Christ immediately after Judas Iscariot left:
First, THERE WAS HIS COMFORT
31 Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
32 If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
The world of the eleven remaining apostles is dark. It is gloomy. And it will become much worse, worse than they could ever have imagined. What they do not recognize is that they have just entered a season of grief and shock. However, insofar as they could be prepared for what they would face, the Lord Jesus Christ did prepare them with words of comfort. After John, the Gospel writer, establishes the setting of this portion of his narrative, he records what the Savior said to them:
First, the Savior spoke to them of Him being glorified and glorifying God:
“Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
Two things to note in light of Judas Iscariot’s departure to betray the Savior to the chief priests:
First, in the midst of what is happening, Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, Satan entering into him, the culmination of which will be the Savior’s crucifixion, the Savior said, “Now is the Son of man glorified.” What a statement. What a declaration. What a revelation. This is something for them to hang onto and for us to hang onto. When events, no matter the tragedy, are seen in their totality, the Son of man is glorified. He just is. And He always will be. Why so? Because that is the purpose of the outworking of all things.[12] It cannot be otherwise. The Son of man, the Son of the living God, my Lord Jesus Christ, is being glorified. Then, now, and always!
Second, in the middle of what is unfolding, no matter how bad it might seem to some, as the Son of Man is glorified, we see also, “and God is glorified in him.” As the Lord Jesus Christ is glorified, He glorifies His heavenly Father. And is the Lord Jesus Christ glorified in what would happen over the next 24 hours? Yes. He would fulfill the purpose of His incarnation. He would accomplish His mission of identifying with our sins and paying the penalty for them on the cross with His shed blood. He would fulfill so many predictions made by the prophets centuries ago. And everything would be done in precisely the manner He had planned, thereby glorifying God through it all.
Next, the Savior spoke to them of God being glorified in Him and glorifying Him in return:
“If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.”
Notice how the Lord Jesus Christ unfolds this second word of consolation. You might have already noticed that this is what is called a first-class conditional statement. Such declarations display two parts, the first part commonly worded as an “if this is true” statement which is presumed to be true because it is true, followed by a “then this follows” statement. If it is 10:00 AM, then the sun is up. If it is gasoline, then it is flammable. If there is money in my wallet, then it is mine. What this verse shows us as a conditional statement of the first class, is if God is glorified in Jesus Christ (assumed to be true because asserted as true in the previous verse by the Savior), then the Lord Jesus Christ will, in turn, be glorified by God. Thus, even when the worst thing you can imagine occurs, the Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified and God the Father will be glorified. And if the worst thing you can imagine is nothing in comparison to what will happen, such as the crucifixion less than 12 hours from then, the Lord Jesus Christ will still be glorified and God the Father will still be glorified. Why so? The universe and everything in it, as well as every single occurrence and event in God’s creation, is for God and His Son being somehow and in someway glorified. Count on it because it is true.
Third, He gently informs them that He is leaving them:
“Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.”
You might wonder how in the world the Lord Jesus Christ’s comments here are in any way comforting to the remaining eleven men, but you have to understand the concept of comforting properly. Comforting is not always telling someone what they want to hear. Comforting is not always telling someone what they think makes them feel better. There are times that comfort involves preparing someone for difficult challenges ahead. That is what we have here. There are two statements in this verse.
Notice that the first one begins, “Little children.” The Savior is tender with His beloved apostles. He loves those men so much and speaks to them with such kindness. He is not going to be with them much longer. He will be taken from them in only a few hours after they have settled in the Garden of Gethsemane.
His men will seek Him. But as He had already told the Jews, where He is going, they cannot come. What He has to do He has to do alone. He will hang alone between heaven and earth. He will be isolated, even from His Father, for a time. He will die alone. He will go to Abraham’s bosom alone, and from there He will lead captivity captive.[13] It doesn’t take much thought to understand why these comments were delayed until after Judas Iscariot had left the Upper Room. These words were not spoken to him or for him, but for Christ’s men, to prepare them for what was ahead.
Next, THERE WAS HIS COMMAND
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
There are three observations to be made about the Lord Jesus Christ’s command:
First, we observe the Lord Jesus Christ identifies it has a new command. I devote an entire chapter to this issue in my book, so I won’t belabor the matter here.[14] Suffice it to say that the command to love one another is not new in the absolute sense. Love toward neighbors is commanded in the Old Testament.[15] Love toward others is commanded in the New Testament.[16] However, this command is new to the Church of Jesus Christ, and the men to whom the Lord was then speaking was the Church of Jesus Christ! Do you doubt what I say is true? Then you explain why the Lord’s mother, Mary, was not in that Upper Room. And explain why His siblings were not in the Upper Room on that occasion, or Lazarus and his two sisters. I suggest you entertain the possibility that they were not there, to celebrate the inaugural communion of the Lord’s Supper, and to witness the conversation we are now considering because they were not yet members of the Church of Jesus Christ. They soon would be, but they were not members of Christ’s body on that Thursday night before our Lord’s crucifixion.
Next, we observe the Lord Jesus Christ identifies it has a derivative command. What is meant by this description of the new command of Christ also being a derivative command? By derivative is meant that which is taken from what has preceded.[17] Returning to verse 34, we see that the love the Church of Jesus Christ is commanded to exhibit and display toward each other is derived from Christ’s love for His Church:[18]
“That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Thus, the essence of a Church member’s love for another Church member is derived from the love that Church member has experienced from the Savior.
Finally, we observe the Lord Jesus Christ identifies it as a declarative command. That is, when this new command given to the Church of Jesus Christ, derived as it is from the love each of us first receives from our Savior, a truth is declared by our actions that speak louder than words. What is declared? Verse 35 is quite clear:
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
Again, a first-class conditional sentence, only in this instance, the “if” portion comes after the “then” portion. If you have love one to another (assumed to be true because it is true), then everyone will know that you are my disciples.
In just a few hours following our Lord’s words of comfort and command after Judas Iscariot left the Upper Room, the betrayer would show up again. Only this time, it would be in the Garden of Gethsemane at the head of a squad of soldiers come to apprehend the Master. Judas would identify Him and betray Him with a kiss.[19] The apostles would scatter, with Peter and John later trailing the Lord and the squad of soldiers. Then they would huddle for three days, isolated from everyone else and frightened, before their Lord rose from the dead and gifted them with the indwelling Spirit of God.[20]
From then on, they were changed men. With the indwelling Holy Spirit beginning to produce fruit in their personalities, they began to exhibit love for one another just as the Savior had commanded them. Then people began to take note that they had been with Jesus and that a bond existed between them that could not be broken. It was a bond established by the blood of Christ and put on display to the world around them by their love for one another. And in a very real way, it all began after Judas Iscariot left the room when those left behind who were real were first comforted by their Lord and then commanded by their Lord to prepare them for what would follow.
Here we are, beloved. Judas Iscariot is gone to his own place.[21] And there are two things the Lord Jesus Christ left for His men, and us. First, He left the comfort that no matter what seems to be happening Christ is and will be glorified, and God is and will be glorified. That just is! Then, the command to the Church. Should all of God’s people love? Yes. Of course. Should all believers love? Of course. But so also should the Church’s members love each other, as a love that derives from Christ’s love for His Own, and as a declaration to the world that carries farther than words that we belong to Jesus Christ.
There is nothing more important to declare to those around you than that you belong to Jesus Christ. Whatever you have to say, whatever you have to do, to communicate that truth, be it get up out of your recliner, be it alter your schedule, no matter what it is you have to do to communicate that truth (which is better communicated by deeds than words), do it. It marks you off as one belonging to the Savior.
__________
[1] Mark 10.46-47
[2] John 9.1-11
[3] John 11.1-47
[4] Matthew 21.1-11, 14-17; Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.29-44; John 12.12-19
[5] John 6.1-20
[6] Matthew 26.6-13; Mark 14.3-9; John 12.2-8
[7] Matthew 26.14-16; Mark 14.10-11; Luke 22.3-6
[8] Matthew 21.1-3, 6-7; Mark 11.1-7; Luke 19.29-35
[9] Matthew 26.17-19; Mark 14.12-16; Luke 22.7-13
[10] John 13.1-20
[11] Matthew 26.21-25; Mark 14.18-21; Luke 22.21-23; John 13.21-30
[12] Revelation 4.11
[13] Psalm 68.18; Ephesians 4.8
[14] John S. Waldrip, The Church of Jesus Christ: 28 Truths Every Christian Ought To Learn, (Monrovia, CA: Classical Baptist Press, 2019), pages 276-284, available at www.ClassicalBaptist.Press
[15] Leviticus 19.18
[16] Matthew 5.43-44
[17] Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1996), page 491.
[18] Ephesians 5.25
[19] Matthew 26.48; Mark 14.44; Luke 22.47-48
[20] John 20.22
[21] Acts 1.25
Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.
Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church